193.
BOTTLES (THREE)
WHITE PORCELAIN DECORATED IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE
JINGDEZHEN KILNS, JIANGXI PROVINCE
QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD (1662–1722),
EARLY 18TH CENTURY
HEIGHT 19.8 CM; MOUTH DIAMETER 2 CM;
BASE DIAMETER 5 CM (NO. 620/1)
HEIGHT 20.4 CM; MOUTH DIAMETER 1.8 CM;
BASE DIAMETER 5.9 CM (NO. 620/2)
HEIGHT 21.5 CM; MOUTH DIAMETER 1.6 CM;
BASE DIAMETER 4.9 CM (NO. 620/3)
INV. NO. 620
Three globular bottles with tall, narrow
necks, on a low foot. Finely potted in very
white porcelain and covered in an almost
colourless glaze.
The sophisticated and harmonious
decoration was carefully painted in two
shades of underglaze sapphire blue, with
fine, scrolling foliate stems and flowers on
the body and neck. A blue band with reserved
white floral and foliate patterns on the
shoulder surrounds the base of the neck.
Below the rim, a border with waves strewn
with white flower heads. The three bottles
have a capital G on the base in underglaze
blue, as well as the inventory number of the
collection to which they belonged,
handwritten in Chinese ink: ‘TH 27’
(no. 620/3), ‘TH 138’ (no. 620/1), and ‘TH 139’
(no. 620/2).
The letter G appears on both blue-and-white
pieces and on some decorated with
famille
verte
enamels i.e. bottles 1 and tea wares such
as teapots, cups and saucers. 2 The capital G
continues to be an enigma. Given the high
quality of some bottles and the blue-and-
white punch pot from the Burghley House
collection, Stamford, Lincolnshire, that bear
the same initial, some authors suggest that
porcelain pieces of superior quality might
have been made for a distinguished member
of the East India Company, a private
merchant or some other important person
in England or the Netherlands. 3 For other
authors, these bottles and tea wares were
probably ordered by a European using his
initial as a mark of ownership. 4
It is important to mention that the same
letter is on the base of a Portuguese blue-
and-white earthenware dish of the first
quarter of the seventeenth century imitating
kraak porselein
, which makes its destination
even more difficult to identify (fig. 44),
dismissing the possibility of being related,
eventually, to the Freemasonry G.
The source of inspiration for the shape of
these bottles has also divided opinion. For
some, they were inspired by Western glass
prototypes, probably for so-called white
spirits. 5 For others, these bottles, also called
‘point bottles’, derived from old metal and
glass ‘rose-water sprinklers’ used in the Near
East. 6
The same decorative pattern is painted in
enamels of the
famille verte
palette, for
example on a similar shaped bottle in the
Koger Collection 7 with the same mark, and
on a pair of bottles in the Tectus Collection. 8
In the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, is a bottle
similar to this one in shape, decoration and
size, and a pair of bottles decorated in
famille verte
enamels. 9
Provenance:
Countess Anita von Zichy-Thyssen de Zich
Published in:
Bushel and Laffan, 1907, pl. VIII
1 Jörg, 1997, p. 260, no. 299; Cincinnati, 1995, p. 651.
2 Jörg, ibid., p. 259, no. 298.
3 Gray, catalogue III, p. 49, fig. 51.
4 Jörg, ibid., p. 259, no. 298.
5 Idem, ibid., p. 259, no. 298.
6 Cincinnati, ibid.
7 Ayers, 1985, p. 142, no. 113.
8 Engel and Petzäll, 1991, pp. 248–49, no. 103.
9 Jörg, ibid., pp. 259–60, nos. 298 and 299.
20 .
CHINESE PORCELAIN WITH WESTERN SHAPES
Figure 44. Dish
Earthenware decorated in underglaze blue
Lisbon, ca. 1620-1640
RA collection, inv. no. 1050